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Show s I! cT. IX. Embalfy of the lord of Chempoalla, and it8 con. feq ucnccs. II I s T 0 R y 0 F M E X 1 C 0. h d. to wll"t Tcuhtlilc himfelf aflirmed, each was worth a t at, accor mg " . load of gold. That undifccming king fhttc::rcd h1mfclf that he lhou~d induce the Spaniards by his liberality to a~andon . that country, and dt.d not refl. cl: that the love of gold is a pafiwn wluch grows. by what 1t feeds on. Cortes was mortifi<.:d with the refu.Cll of th~ kmg; but. he did not give up his intention, the native c.onftancy of Ius temper bemg ftrengthened by the alluring profpetl: of nchcs. . Tenhtlile, before he departed, obfcrvc 1, that the Spamards on hearing the ihoke of the bell for Ave Mary, kneeled down .before a holy crofs, and · in wonder at it, a{kcd why they adored that ptecc of wood. Upon this Olmedo took occafion to cxplai~1 to him the. fir~ articles of the Chriftian religion, aml rcpn.:fented to hun the abommatlon of worlhipping idols, and the inhumanity of their f.1.crifices. ~ut his difcou r1c was not comprehended, and the attempt proved frmtlefs. The following day the Spaniards found themfelves fo deferted by the Mexicans, that there was not one to be feen on all the coaft ; this was· unqucftionably the effeCt of the order given by their king to recall all the people with the provifions defiined for thofe ftrangers, if they perfifted in their· daring refolution. A novelty of this kind caufed a fudden confternation among the Spaniards, as they dreaded every moment the whole power of that vaft empire might pour down upon their miferable camp. Upon, which, Cortes made their provifions be fecured in the {hips, and ordered his troops to be armed 'for their defence. It is cet:tain that Montezuma, upon this as well as on many other occafions, tnight cafily have totally defiroyed thofe few ftrangcrs who were to bring fo many misfortunes upon him; but providence pre-ferved them to become the infiruments of his views in that new world. We do not mean to juil:ify the defign and conduct of the conquerors,. but neither can we avoid tracing in the feries of the conquefi the cleftiny which prepared the ruin of that empire. On the fame day, during this ftate of fufpence of the Spaniards, two. foldiers who kept guard without the camp, f~w five men coming towards them, different in fome degree from the Mexicans in their drefs and in their ornaments, who upon being conduCted to the Spaniili general, faid in Mexican, as their own language was not underftood, that they·wcre of the nation of the Totanacas, and fent by the lord of Chem-poalla, • H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. poalla, a city twenty-four miles difiant from that place, to pay his reBOOK.. VIII. fpetl:s to them, to know who they were and whence they came, and to • requefi them to repair to that city, where they would be kindly received; adding, that they had not approached the camp fooner for fear of the Mexicans. The lord of Chempoalla was one of thofe feudatories, who lived impatient under the Mexican yoke. Having heard of the vitl:ory obtained by the Spaniards in Tabafco, and their arrival at that port, he thought the occafion the moll: £wourable to throw otr the Mexican yoke, with the aflifiance of fuch brave people. Cortes, who wifhed for nothing more carnefily than fuch an alliance, after informing himfelf fufficien tly of the ll:ate and condition of the Totonacas, and the wrongs they fuffered from the great power of the Mexicans, anfwered, with thanks to the Chempoallefe chief for his cour .. tefy, and a promife to vifit him without delay. He immediately publilhed his departure for Chempoalla; but before that, it was neceffary to overcome fome obftacles to it, which his own foldit:rs threw in the way. Some adherents to the governor of Cuba, tired out with the hardlhips which they fuffered, intimidated by the dangers which now prefented themfelves, and become defirous of repofe, and longing for the convenicncies and comforts of their homes, moll: earnefi:ly conjured the general to return to Cuba, exaggerating the fcarcity of their prov~fions, and the railinefs of fo great an undertaking, as to oppofe, with fo fmall a number of foldiers, the vall: power of the king of Mexico ; efpecially, after they had loft on thofe fands thirty-five men, part of thofe by the wounds received in the battle of Tabafco, part from the unwholfomenefs of the air of that iliore. Cortes, by means of prefents and promifes, and alfo by means of a little feverity opportunely exerted, and other arts fuggell:ed to him by his . fertility of genius, fo well managed his corps, that he not only pacified the difcontented, and induced them to remain willingly in that country; but, proceeding farther in his negotiaciona, brought it about that the army, in the name of the king, and without any dependance on the governor of Cuba, lhould confirm ' him in the fupreme civil and military command; and that on account of the expcnces already, and hereafter to be laid out by him upon the armament, a fifth part of the gold which might be acquired iliould be afligned to him; D 2 after w _. |